


Unorthodox Recovery

by PenNamesAreImportant



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Battle, Combat, F/F, First Kiss, Injury Recovery, Love Confessions, best friends™, girl love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22591147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenNamesAreImportant/pseuds/PenNamesAreImportant
Summary: When Catherine gets injured on a routine mission Shamir realises that once again she may face losing her partner. Perspective shifts from Shamir to Catherine halfway through.
Relationships: Catherine & Shamir Nevrand, Catherine/Shamir Nevrand
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Unorthodox Recovery

A symphony of steel was playing out across the battlefield with the clash of swords, axes and lances filling the air, but Shamir heard none of it. There was only the direction of the wind, any hints of movement in the nearby trees and view below of Thunder Catherine in the field, glistening in polished armour with the legendary Thunderbrand aglow in her hands. Shamir clutched an arrow between her dextrous fingers waiting for any prey to present itself – each knock, draw and loose resulted in a pink mist and grave to be prepared. The armoured ones were for Catherine, the more mobile warriors for her – such were the terms of their partnership, and between them she often thought it likely they could get through entire missions without the rest of the Knights.

Shamir had noticed that Catherine was fighting with one of the outlaws for longer than usual. A man no less than six and a half feet tall, clad in worn dark armour and wielding a great blunt mace with one hand, had been swinging with the Knight for the better part of five minutes as far as she could tell. Worryingly, he had not given up an inch of ground. _This must be their leader_ Shamir thought, slotting the arrow she was holding back into her quiver and reaching for her lance placed on the ground nearby. She knew that it was dangerous to go out into the field herself, leaving both her and her partner without cover, but something seemed wrong. Why was nobody coming to help this man who was duelling arguably the most feared Knight of Seiros? Why was Catherine taking so long to dispatch of him? She strained her eyes to see the two trading blows in the distance, Catherine's swings looking strained and heavy as the bandit fiercely parried and counter-struck in a brutal dance of death.

Moments later, she heard it. The sickening crunch of blunt metal on metal, the groaning of bending steel, a cry of agony. Catherine spun around, trying to keep herself on two feet for a few paces backwards before stumbling to one knee and using her off hand to steady herself on the ground. Shamir was wide-eyed: even from her distance she could plainly see the massive, circular dent in the side of Catherine's armour which curved sharply into her ribcage. Without a moment to think she grasped her lance in her strong hand and sprinted single-mindedly towards the man towering over her knight, his cruel mace poised menacingly above a shaking Thunderbrand.

Thirty feet away, as Catherine desperately parried a blow with the last of her strength, Shamir planted her left foot in the ground and pivoted her body with all her might. The lance bolted out of her hand and briefly there was silence, the whistling of the weapon hurtling through the air clouding out all other sound from her mind until a mighty thud brought Shamir back into the cacophony of war. Looking up, she saw the giant hurtling backwards with a cloud of dirt kicked into the air and sprinted into action, covering the ground in a flash as she jumped on top of him and began frantically trying to lift up the base of his face-guard with her left hand as her right pawed at her waist for her dagger. The outlaw hammered at her with massive, armoured fists in desperation but Shamir felt nothing other than the shifting of the steel on his face, with a slight click as the leather strap gave way signalling the end of the struggle. 

Serpent-like, she plunged her dagger into the base of the man's chin and moved the blade around with forceful movements of her wrist, feeling the fight drain out of him with each gargle of blood splattering out of his mouth. It only took moments and when the outlaw could not raise his fists any longer Shamir withdrew her dagger from the lifeless body. Almost tripping over herself, she ran over to Catherine who lay in a heap on the scarred field, quickly crouching beside her and hoisting her torso up in her arms.

“Shamir” Catherine began , her voice weak. “That... that was a tough one, huh?”

“You're hurt” she replied, the panic evident in her voice as much as her eyes. “We need to get you some help. Just stay with me.”

“Thank you...” Catherine spluttered before she eased herself back onto the grass, Thunderbrand rolling from her grip onto the ground below. Shamir could feel herself choking: her vision was blurred with tears, her heart racing, each breath cold as ice in her lungs.

“Not again” she whispered to her partner's limp body, her tears splattering against her metal plate. “Not you.” _Please, anyone but you_. She scrambled to unlace Catherine's armour with trembling hands, removing her greaves, vambraces and cuisse before finding the breastplate too dangerous to shift around. Disturbingly, Shamir had noticed a steady trickle of blood seeping from the seam of the armour onto the ground below, painting a flower a ghastly shade of crimson.

“Won't someone fucking help me here?!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, unaware if the battle was even over yet or any Knights were left alive to hear her. It seemed like an eternity before Alois came riding into view, his cuirass splattered with blood. Shamir did not wait for him to give any sort of report.

“You have to get her to Manuela. Now!” she barked at him wildly. Alois took one glance at the woman on the floor and nodded wordlessly, steadying his horse so she could be hoisted onto it. Shamir scooped Catherine's arm over her shoulder and got a hold underneath her back and knees, forcing her muscles to expend every last ounce of their strength as she hoisted the injured woman up to Alois who pulled her up onto the horse and leant her body against his own before galloping off. Shamir fell to her knees, sick to her stomach, and in her blind fear found herself praying for perhaps the first time in her life. _Seiros, I've never asked you for anything before, so please make this one count. Don't take my Catherine from me: I'm begging you_.

***

Bright light flooded Catherine's vision as she groggily opened her eyes to a strangely familiar setting. She seemed to know the strange stone room that she found herself in, with its dark wooden floors and stained glass windows, but her blurred sight quickly fixated on the ghastly figure in the corner whose skin had been stripped bare to expose muscle and bone underneath.

“Am I... dead?” she croaked to the corpse, attempting to sit up before the pain in her side forced her back down.

“No”, the corpse replied with a woman's voice, “though you're quite lucky not to be”.

“Where am I?”

“Garreg Mach infirmary, Catherine. I must admit I'm a bit hurt that you didn't recognise my voice” Manuela pined as she tended to a vial she was mixing something or other in.

“But, the dead woman..” Catherine said in a stupor.

“That's a medical studying aid, my dear” Manuela laughed. “Besides, it's a man anyway – I guess they have to be dead to stick around me, hm. Oh no no no, you don't want to sit up just yet – your ribs need to stay set, and you must be quite dazed from the herbs I've given you.”

“I need to make sure everyone's okay” she protested, again trying to hoist herself up unsuccessfully. “Where's Thunderbrand?”

“If they weren't, what are you going to do about it in this condition?” Manuela posited, to which Catherine had no rebuke. “But don't worry, they're all fine. Thunderbrand is with Alois. They're much more worried about you: Shamir even waited by your side all night until she finally passed out from exhaustion.”

“Shamir?” Catherine repeated.

“That is who I said, yes” Manuela confirmed. “She's sleeping on some chairs outside this very room at this moment. Shall I bring her in and leave you two alone for a bit?”

“I, uh- please.” Catherine affirmed after an audible moment of confusion.

“Certainly. I just ask that you don't move or otherwise do anything detrimental to your current stability, or Lady Rhea will be on my case” she warned before strolling out the door. Catherine could feel a strange sense of apprehension about seeing Shamir rising within her: she knew that the worst that could happen was a brief telling off in her uniquely succinct manner, but even still – _she waited here all night beside me_?

“Catherine!” a familiar voice called out before Catherine felt arms wrapping around her torso and the warmth of skin pressed against her face.

“Shamir” she replied in greeting, unable to return the embrace. “Boy am I glad to see you. Careful, Manuela said I needed to not move or something.” Catherine lay there for a few moments in silence, feeling her partner's embrace around her, before she realised something strange: the tremble of the body pressing against her own, the slight sounds of shakiness. Shamir was _crying_.

“Woah, hey, easy now” Catherine stammered with an awkward smile. “I'm alright, I'm okay. There's no need for the waterworks!”

“I almost lost you” Shamir replied, hugging tighter onto Catherine. “What happened out there?”

“I'm... not sure, honestly” she winced, trying to manoeuvre her injured side away from the weight of the archer on top of her. “That guy was way tougher than your average bandit. This is part of the job Shamir, there are inevitably going to be some day-”

“No” Shamir interjected sharply, pulling back so Catherine could finally see her tear-strewn face. “I am not going to lose you. Before I met you, I always knew I was going to leave Fódlan after I'd paid my debt to Rhea. Back to Dagda maybe, or Almyra, wherever. But now, things are... different.”

“Different?”

“Yes. Now all I want... is to stay with you. Knight of Seiros or not. When I saw you get hit out there, it was like I was the one who had taken the blow straight to my chest. My whole world stopped.”

“I, uh... I'm not sure quite what to make of that” Catherine laughed with another awkward smile and more than a tinge of blush flashing across her cheeks. “You know you'll always be my partner!”

“Even after the Knights of Seiros? 

“I didn't know you were one to plan for the future, Shamir!” Catherine joked. Shamir's expression remained unwavering, her eyes still large and wet. “What's gotten into you?”

“I'm not good at expressing myself in words.” Shamir murmured before leaning back in towards Catherine. The injured knight could barely register what was going on until she suddenly felt the soft warmth of wet lips pressing against her own, contrasting against the cold wetness of the tears rolling from Shamir onto her cheeks. Catherine lay motionless for a few moments, stunned with disbelief, before sheepishly beginning to kiss back against her long time companion. A thousand thoughts were swimming in her mind and it felt like a lifetime had come and gone before finally the silent air was punctured by the tapping of fingers on wood, accompanied by a familiar voice.

“That's enough, lovebirds.” Manuela sighed. “It's not good for Catherine to get excited right now, emotionally or physically. Besides, if I see any more of it I'm going to end up black out drunk tonight and probably get fired for advances towards a student.”

“Manuela!” Catherine squeaked in shock. “It's not what you're thinking, honestly, we were just-”

“Sorry” Shamir cut in, with her usual brisk manner. “I should let her rest.”

“Yes, you should.” Manuela mused. “Out: you'll have plenty of time for romance once I've fixed her up.”

“Thank you” Shamir mumbled, placing a hand on Catherine's cheek for a brief moment before quickly walking out. Catherine could do nothing more than to stare nonplussed at Manuela who, after a few evaluative moments, finally gave a laugh of derisive sympathy to the knight. 

“People don't just wait at your side all night for no reason, you know. Most of my clients don't even get visitors at all! Tragic, isn't it. Now, drink this and try and go back to sleep” Manuela ordered as she placed a vial of something or other to Catherine's lips. Catherine did not think to protest, or even answer, gulping down the strange viscous liquid as the medic tipped it into her mouth. She longed to rest after what had just happened; thoughts of Shamir and a life after Knighthood swirling around in her brain as the room once more became a blurred haze. As she felt the clutches of sleep claw at her once more, Catherine knew one thing: she would be dreaming of the archer until she awoke. _Her partner_.


End file.
